Composite containers



April 8, 1969 w. J. BUA 3,437,257

GOMPOS ITE CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 16. 1966 Sheet of 2 FIGS FIGA April 8, 1969 w. J. BUA

COMPOSITE CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 15. 1966 FIG. 6

FIG. 5

- FIG. 8

United States Patent US. Cl. 229-51 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A composite can and a method of manufacturing it with a lid or cap that has a portion of the can body fixed to it and is removable therewith from the remainder of the body and jointly with this remainder defines the Whole can body. The lid has a substantially rigid axially extending portion which extends into the principal portion or remainder portion mounting the lid on the can so it is readily reclosable. A separation between the two can body portions allows removal of the cap or lid and readily reclosing of the can. A new removable multilayer tape seal overlies the separation. The axially extending rigid portion of the lid provides a backing during manufacturing so that the separation between the two can body portions is effected by a through-cut in registry with this backing after the can body has been formed as unitary whole and has the lid or a top secured thereto.

This invention relates generally to packaging and more particularly to a new and improved can or container.

American homemakers and consumers are well aware of the limitation of many packages. Packages such as boxes and cans are known in which the top comes off with a pull of a string opener. However, when the contents are poured the container is often squeezed out of shape and cannot be reclosed. Moreover, the string opener leaves a very untidy package. Many modern packages have tops that must be pried off with a knife or removed with a key opener or pulled off with a tab. These tops are hard to remove and many consumers will think of them as impossible and have the scars to prove it.

Another complaint of the American consumer is that containers are not only hard to open but it is impossible for them to be reclosed. Many paper or cardboard containers fail to meet the basic need that a package open easily, dispense the product efliciently and reclose tightly enough to seal in freshness.

The use of stitched tops on bags and pry-up metal tops that bend so in opening that they cannot be reclosed to use again is highly objectionable to the consumer.

Containers and bags that tear apart when opened, pushback tops on boxes and containers that tend to jam, cans or boxes that will not stay closed, paper or fiber spirally wound containers that must be twisted to be opened and cannot then thereafter be reclosed, even though they contain food that should be kept fresh, and the absence of pouring spouts are a burden on the consumer.

The main complaint about the deficiencies in modern packaging is not always about container configuration but usually about the method provided for opening and reclosing it. The need for a new and reclosable container is evidenced by the fact that containers or cans are now used for packaging every conceivable item including toys, worms and even womens undergarments.

Reclosable cans or containers have been attempted in composite container constructions. Composite containers consisting of a tubular body made of a suitable material and having the opposite ends thereof closed by a bottom and a lid are known. Generaly, the known composite 7 containers are not reclosable. One known construction of composite containers is disclosed in the British Patent No.

3,437,257 Patented Apr. 8, 1969 920,354 and makes use of a plug closure formed by the disc portion of a lid. This known patented container makes use of a string for tearing of a label at a position which is relatively close to the top of the container in order to reduce to a minimum spoiling the decoration of the label on opening of the container.

Provision is made in this known patented container for hinging the lid by allowing a portion of the label to remain intact. The known container has a relatively wide peripheral surface formed directly on the lid to allow it to be grasped and removed and returned to a closing position on the body of the container.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a new and improved container having an improved closure for reclosing the container and overcoming the many limitations of packages set forth above.

Another object is to provide a new type container in which the container is not marred when opened.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of making composite containers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved seal for a container and improved tape therefor.

The tubular container according to the invention comprises a tubular container body having a top and a bottom closing the ends of the tubular container. The container body has a removable end portion affixed to the top or lid which is removable from a remainder of the container body. The container body has a circumferential throughout defining a separation between the removable end portion and the remainder of the container body. The top or lid is provided with a rigid, axial portion disposed internally of the removable end portion of the container body and extending axially partially into the remainder or main portion of the body for removably mounting the removable end portion on the remainder of the container body thereby jointly defining the tubular container body between the end portion and the remainder of the body.

Means are provided on the new can or container for sealing the can and the seal means may be removed without marring the container body. The seal means comprises an improved tape releasably holding the removable end portion of the remainder of the container body in a fixed axial relationship and substantially immobile relatively in a circumferential direction in use. The new and improved tape is a multilayer tape capable of delaminating and allowing portions thereof to remain on the container 50 that it is not marred when the tape is removed.

The invention provides a new method of manufacturing a tubular container comprising making the tubular container body from a tube and permanently afiixing on the tubular body a container top and a bottom closing opposite ends of the container body. The top or lid comprises a substantially rigid, axial portion extending axially partially into the container body and having a peripheral surface underlying the container body a limited axial extent. This underlying peripheral surface provides, in one method of manufacture of the can of the invention, a substantially rigid backing for circumferentially cutting the container body in registry with the last-mentioned peripheral surfaces. The cut is taken circumferentially of the tube from which the container body is formed and in registry with the peripheral surfaces providing a backing for effectively cutting the container tube. Thus, an end portion or length of the container body, or tube from which it is formed, having the top or lid secured thereto is severed from the remainder of the container body or tube with the top fixed thereto. This axial portion of the lid is removable from the remainder of the container body and selectively insertable axially into the remainder removably mounting the end portion 3 of the container body on the remainder of the container body.

'Other features and advantages of the container and tape in accordance with the present invention will be better understood as described in the following specification and appended claims, in conjunction with the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal or vertical cross-section view of a container provided with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of a can or container illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a container in accordance with the invention illustrating an assembled can or container and the method of opening thereof;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the container illustrated in FIG. 3 and illustrates the removable and reclosable lid and can structure;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 55 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a seal tape in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary exploded view of another can provided with the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along line 88 of FIG. 7.

While the invention hereinafter described will be described as applicable to a can or container made of paper it will be understood that the container may be made of any suitable material such as cardboard, fiber, plastic, etc. The term container or can will be applicable to lap rolled paper cans, spiral wound paper cans or molded cans made of plastic or some other suitable material.

As can be seen in the drawing in FIGS. 1-4 inclusive, a container or can 10 having a tubular body portion 11 is provided with a bottom closure 12 and a metallic top closure or lid 13 crimped on or otherwise secured to the tubular body 11. The container body 11 is illustrated as being made of paper spirally wound, however, it can be made as indicated heretofore lap rolled and of any suitable material and any desired number of layers or molded. The invention, however, is particualrly applicable to spirally wound and laminated tubes and lap wound or rolled containers. While the can body has a circular cross-section in the drawings it can have a round, elliptical, half round, fiat with round ends, square, rectangular, diamond, triangular, hexagonal or pentagonal cross-section.

The top 13 is a dished top or plug closure having an axially extending rigid, annular, portion 13a to which is affixed a tubular end portion or length 11a removable from the remainder portion or length 11b of the container body. As hereinafter explained the container body 11 is made as a unitary whole and the short end portion 11a is severed from the remainder 1111, which is of greater length, in the manufacturing process of the can. The two container body portions 11a, 11b form axial extensions of each other in the assembled can as illustrated in FIG. 1. The container body has a circumferential through-cut defining a separation 15 between the removable end portion and the remainder of the container body.

The finished container body portion 11 is provided with an outer label or decorative paper layer 16 in known manner extending circumferentially about the container body and axially thereon overlying the through-cut defining the separation 15. The label is a layer on the paper wound spirally to form the container body and is cut when the body of the container is cut during manufacture thereof as later explained.

The invention provides a new and improved self-separating Split tape constructed as a multi-layer tape having an outer strip 17 on which are releasably bonded two parallel, spaced portions or strips 18, 19 defining a split tape layer. The inner strips 18, 19 are provided with an adhesive, not shown, bonded on the container body portions overlying the label, provided on the container, and on opposite sides of the through-cut 15. The outer strip is peeled away, as illustrated in FIG. 3, when opening the can, with the inner strips being left on the container portion on opposite sides of the through-cut or separation 15. The inner strips of the tape insure that the container body or a label thereon remains undamaged and is not rendered unsightly as in generally the case in the known techniques of separating a cap from a container having a label.

The tape is constructed of a material, for example plastic films, releasably holding the removable end portion 11a and the remainder of the body 11b is fixed axial relationship when the can is assembled as illustrated in FIG. 3 and substantially immobile relative to each other in a circumferential direction. When the strip 17 is peeled away the cap is readily removable as illustrated in FIG. 4.

It will be noted that the axial portion 13a of the top closure or cap 13 extends axially of the container portion and 11b and is axially longer than the removable portion 11a which extends circumferentially thereof. The axial portion 13a is of an axial length sufficient to allow insertion into the container body 11b and is made of a thin but rigid material, for example metal as shown or plastic. The body portion 11a has an axial length so that it can be readily grasped for removal of the top closure and replacement on the container. Thus, the closure 13 need not be provided with an outer rim surface of any substantial axial length which is the usual case in removable plug closures. The present closure has a small rim, resulting from the crimping or other known technique of affixing the closure 13 on to the tubular body portion 11, and the easily grasped surface is provided by the removable container body portion 11a. The transverse part of the top closure designated 15 extends across and internally of the remainder portion 11b when the removable end portion is mounted on the remainder portion 11b.

The multilayer tape is made. of a material that acts as a sealant, for example a plastic, as later explained. The container body may be provided with an internal liquid impervious barrier, not shown, for example a foil or other suitable inner lining such as a film on the paper wound to form the container body 11. The paper body portions may be impregnated and otherwise suitably rendered liquid impervious. The present invention provides for the use of the invention in making a container that may be used for containing a liquid.

Thus, if the container body is made of paper, and is provided with an internal liquid-proof lining such as a foil or otherwise rendered liquid proof, it may be rendered free of wicking by rendering the abutting edges or ends 21, 22 liquid impervious. This is accomplished, as hereinafter explained. It can be seen that since the cap is removable the provision or rendering of the abutting edges 21, 22 free of any possibility of wicking insures the possibility of using the container as a reusable container with part of the contents therein after use of a part of the contents thereof.

For example, if the container is to contain a liquid that only part thereof is used at one time part of the liquid contents may be poured out and the cap re-inserted or replaced. The remainder of the liquid will remain in the container body. However, the pouring out does not result in a wicking action by the edge 22 as is generally the case in paper containers. Thus, the invention provides for the avoidance of unslightliness due to the wicking action which generally takes place in paper container bodies.

A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 7 in which a container 30 is provided with a tubular body portion 31b having a fixed bottom closure, not shown, as heretofore described with respect to the first embodiment. The can or container is provided with a cap 33, secured to a container body portion 31a constructed as a deeply recessed lid or plug closure in the manner heretofore described with respect to the first embodiment. Both of the plug closures frictionally engage the inner surface of the container portion forming the principal portion of the container body. The closure 33, however, is provided with a projection or protuberance 35 which insures a tight contact between it and the inner surface of the container which is a generally deformable container body made of a deformable material such as paper. The protuberance will tend to form a groove in the container portion 31b tending to improve frictional engagement between the closure and the body portion 31b.

The second embodiment provides for a spout without the use of separate spout structure. The spout is constructed as a perforated tab wall portion 38 of the container body 31 which may be torn out when the cap is removed. The closure 33 is provided with a tapered indentation 40 formed by a channeled surface in the lid having an opening open to a side of the rigid axial portion of the top or lid 33 below the container body portion 31a fixed to the top 33.

When the contents of the container are introduced therein and the container is closed and sealed with a single layer tape, not shown, as described with respect to the first embodiment the tapered indentation 40 extends transversely of the cap but the side opening thereof is out of registry from the tab wall portion 38. That is to say it is angularly displaced therefrom. When the can is opened and the tab portion 38 is torn out indicia such as arrows 43, 44, or comparable index marks, provided on the container and the cap are brought into alignment or registry and the indentation 40 will then be in registry with the opening left in the container body portion when the tab 38 is removed. Thus, a spout is selectively formed in the container. When the container is reclosed the cap is replaced with the indentation 40 and the opening made by removal of the tab 38 out of registry and the cap is accordingly in a position so that the container is again in a fully closed condition. When it is desired to reuse the container or remove contents therefrom the cap is simply rotated into position in which the index marks are. in registry, and delivery from the spout can take place even without removal of the lid or top 33.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 the improved tape is manufactured as a roll and comprises the outer layer 17 made for example of a transparent plastic, having an adhesive on an inner surface 17a which will allow delamination from the two inner spaced strips 18, 19 which extend longitudinally of the outer layer and are axially spaced thereon. The inner layer strips have an adhesive on inner surfaces 18a, 19a thereof that will allow the inner strips to remain adhesively bonded onto the container surface on which they are mounted. Thus, the separable tape provides for a protective cover avoiding marring of the container surfaces or the labels thereon and it provides a sealant so the containers are fluid tight and can be used to contain a fluid if desired providing the body is made fluid impervious as before described.

The invention provides new and improved methods for easily constructing cans or containers particularly those of paper and is particularly applicable to containers which are made from paper which is lap or spirally wound. The known wound containers are made from tubes or. tubular portions that are wound spirally in known manner. In the instant case the wound container tubes can be made, on known winders, of any desired length and the tubes cut to the container overall length. The top end closure can then be seamed on or secured to the tube length forming the container body. The tube length with the end closure thereon, whether made from longer tubes or from tubes of the finished overall length of the container, is then held in suitable apparatus and the through-cut separating the removable end portion from the remainder of the body is effected with the rigid axial portion of the top closure providing a substantially rigid backing for circumferentially cutting the container body in registry with the peripheral surfaces of the axial portion of the top closure or lid. Thus, an end portion or length of the length of tube from which the container body is formed is severed from the remainder of the container body or tube length with the top aflixed thereto and the axial portion is removable from the remainder of the container body and is selectively insertable in the remainder of the body with the end length or portion of the length of tube secured thereto, after the can or container has been filled.

The cutting operation may be carried out by a suitable rotary cutter coacting with the lid axial portion which acts as a backing element for the cutter in effecting the cut. It being understood that there is relative rotary movement between the cutter and the container body or tube. As can be seen in FIG. 7, the indentation 40 is constructed so that its side opening is below the top edge of the container body portion 31b and is spaced from the portion 31a so that the closure 33 has a backing peripheral surface on which the through-cut can be carried out in a manner above described relative to the first-described embodiment.

Subsequent to the severing of the two portions of the container by the through-cut the two portions while still adjacent each other are taped together by the multilayer tape or a single layer tape as the case may be. The container is then delivered to the user who fills the contents therein through the open bottom end of the container and then secures, for example, by a seaming operation, the bottom closure on to the container closing the open end and the package is ready for sale and delivery to the consumer. The new container and this method of manufacture allow conventional automatic apparatus, with minor modification if any, to be used both by the manufacturer of the container and the user who carries out the filling thereof.

The new container can also be made by winding spi rally wound paper or fiber tubes of any length on known winders and then severing or slitting the lengths of tubes to the desired overall length and at the same time severing or slitting the two portions from the common length of tube that forms a container. The two separated portions or lengths defining a container are taped together and the top closure fixed thereto and the bottom is left open for filling and subsequent closure thereof as before described.

Of course, the tubes forming the can or container can be made from sheet material having a width corresponding to the overall length of the container body. The sheets are then wound into concentric convolutions in known manner. The tube thus form-ed is through-cut to form the two portions of the container body, taped and a top closure applied thereto as before described.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the sequence of steps may be varied as needed depending on the apparatus to be used in manufacturing the new can. Moreover, those skilled in the art will recognize that the method of manufacture can include making use of paper or fiber material treated, for example by having a foil or impregnated, to make the container fluid impervious. The method can include the application of inner sprays of a sealant applied before the container is filled. The use of applied sealants is known in this art.

The edges 21, 22 of the container body portions may be sealed by treatment with a melt or solution, suspension or dispersion in conventional organic solvents or water of thermoplastic resins such as polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinylidene chloride and the like. The treatment will render paper or fiber used in the manufacture of the container impervious to a fluid along the cut edges. The treatment can be effected by spray before the taping operation.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the relatively deeply dished top closure or plug closure avoids capillary action between the closure axial portion and the container body so that a liquid may be contained in the body or finely pulverized powders, and viscous materials and the like. The axial length of the axial portion of the cap can be made the desired axial length so that the cap extends into the container a desired distance. Thi distance can be chosen to take into consideration the material contained in the can and the frictional fit or snugness of the cap and container body. Moreover, the shorter portion of the can body attached to this cap forming therewith the complete closure should have an axial length that permits easily gripping the closure for easy removal and replacement closing the container. Thus the extent that the cap fits into the container, and therefore its depth or axial length, is in part a function of the desired axial length of the container body portion secured thereto.

It will be understood that the cap construction of the second embodiment can be modified by including a sitter over the opening in the indentation therein. That is to say the opening can be made as a sifter. Furthermore, the indentation can be simply formed as a channel, nontapered, extending across the cap with a freely open opening at one end and a sifter opening at the opposite end. The desired opening is then positioned in registry with an opening formed on the container by removal of the tab.

Containers, not shown, according to the invention can be made with the opposite ends provided with closures of the type referred to above as the top or top closure herein. Thus both ends can have the closure removed therefrom and then either or both ends be reclosed.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood that many modifications and changes can be made within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A reclosable container comprising, a tubular body having a top plug closure and a bottom closure closing the ends of said tubular container body, said container body having a removable end portion fixed to said top closure and removable therewith from a remainder of said container body, said container body having a circumferential through-cut defining a separation between said removable end portion and said remainder of said container body, said top closure comprising a substantially rigid axial portion having a greater axial length than said container body removable end portion disposed internally of said removable end portion of said container body and extending axially, partially into and frictionall engaging said remainder of said container body removably mounting said removable end portion of said container body on said remainder of said container body and jointly defining therewith said tubular container body, said top closure having a transverse portion closing an end of said container body, said transverse portion being disposed across internally of the remainder of said container body when said removable end portion is mounted in position on said remainder of said container body, and means releasably holding said removable end portion on said remainder of said container body in fixed axial relationship therewith and thereon substantially immobile in a circumferential direction.

2. A reclosable container according to claim 1, in which said rigid axial portion of said top is coaxial with said end portion of said container body and comprises peripheral surfaces conforming in an axial and a circumferential direction with inner surfaces of said remainder of said container body overlying said axial portion of said top circumferentially and are disposed close adjacent to said inner surfaces, said axial portion of said top and said inner surfaces of said remainder of said container body extending axially in registry an axial extent sufiicient for said top and said end portion of said container body to define a removable and replaceable closure for opening and closing said container, whereby said container is reclosable.

3. A reclosable container according to claim 1, in which said means releasably holding said removable body portion and said remainder of said container body comprises removable seal means overlying said separation, said removable end portion and said remainder of said container body.

4. A reclosable container according to claim 3, in which said seal means comprises a removable tape disposed at least partially circumferentially of said container and extending axially on said end portion and said remainder of said container body a limited axial extent.

5. A reclosable container according to claim 1, in which said means releasably holding said removable body portion and said remainder of said container comprises seal means disposed overlying said circumferential throughcut, said removable body portion and said remainder of said container body.

6. A reclosable container according to claim 1, in which said removable end portion comprises external peripheral surfaces defining axial extensions of the outer peripheral surfaces of said remainder of said container body overlying said rigid axial portion of said top when said top and said remainder of said container body are in an assembled condition.

7. A reclosable container according to claim 1, in which said means releasably holding said removable body portion and said remainder of said container body in fixed relationship comprises a multilayer tape having split layer portions out of registry circumferentially with said circumferential through-cut and permanently bonded on said container removable end portion and remainder thereof on opposite sides of said separation, and a removable backing tape overlying said split layer portions and said circumferential through-cut and being selectively removable from said tape without removal of said split tape layer portions from said container.

8. A reclosable container according to claim 1, in which remainder of said container body comprises a removable tab portion adjacent a peripheral top edge thereof for forming an opening in said container, said top having a channeled surface extending transversely thereof and having an opening open to a side of said rigid axial portion thereof defining a spout having said Opening selectively positionable in registry with said opening defined in said container body when said tab portion is removed from said container body.

9. A reclosable container comprising, a tubular container body having a top and a bottom closing opposite ends of said tubular container body, said container body having a removable end portion fixed to said top and removable from a remainder of said container body in conjunction With said top, said container body having a circumferential through-cut defining a separation between said removable end portion and said remainder of said container body, said top comprising a substantially rigid axial portion having a greater axial length than said container body removable end portion disposed internally of said removable end portion of said container body and extending axially of said end portion partially into said remainder of said container body removably mounting said removable end portion on said remainder of said container body as an axial extension of said remainder of said container body for jointly defining therewith said tubular container body, said top having a transverse port1on closing an end of said container and disposed transversely of and internally of said remainder of said container body when said removable end portion is mounted on said remainder of said container body, and said end portion and said remainder of said container body each having abutting end surfaces holding said removable end portion and said remainder of said container body in an axial relationship defining the minimum length of said container.

10. A reclosable container according to claim 9, in which at least said abutting end surface of said remainder of said container body comprising a surface extending circumferential of said remainder of said container body imprevious to a liquid.

11. A reclosable container comprising, a tubular container body having a top and a bottom closing the ends of said tubular container body, said container body having a removable end portion fixed to said top and removable from a remainder of said container body in conjunction with said top, said container body having a circumferential through-cut defining a separation between said removable end portion and said remainder of said container body, said top comprising a substantially rigid axial portion disposed internally of said removable end portion of said container body and extending axially of said end portion partially into and frictionally engaging said remainder of said container body removably mounting said removable end portion on said remainder of said container body as an axial extension of said remainder of said container body for jointly defining therewith said tubular container body, said top having a transverse portion closing said can when said removable end portion is disposed mounted in position on said remainder of said container body, said transverse portion extending transversely of and internally of said remainder of said container body when said removable end portion is mounted on said remainder of said container body, and said remainder portion having a greater axial length than said end portion of said container body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,180,541 4/1916 Roden. 2,898,025 8/1959 Walker 229-45 3,311,256 3/1967 Dowling et al. 22053 3,334,776 8/1967 Ellis 220-53 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 22053; 22943 

